The New Civic Si is Going to be a Glorified Grocery Getter

Torque figures don’t look too promising

The hot hatch market is a busy one, and just about every Honda fan has begged Honda to bring the Type R to the U.S. for years. It’s finally going to happen for the 2018 model year, but we’re also getting the Civic Si, which was the performance go-to for Honda guys in the absence of an official Type R. It was the most powerful Civic off the production line here for the longest time. Well, with the Type R finally coming to the U.S., Honda doesn’t have a whole lot of motivation to make the Civic Si a showstopper in the power department, and, compared to the 2018 Type R, the Civic Si could be nothing more than a pretty looking (if you like the look) grocery getter. An e-mail sent out by Honda that leaked the Civic Si’s torque output doesn’t help matters, either.

According to the e-mail, which was sent to those who signed up for Honda’s mailing list, the Civic Si will deliver 192 pound-feet of torque – a figure Honda claims will make “everyday errands more exciting than ever.” To put that into perspective, the range-topping non-Si model (the Civic Touring) that uses the same engine offers up 174 horsepower and 162 pound-feet, while the Type R will offer 306 horsepower and 295 pound-feet from a 2.0-liter. That means there’s a small gap between the Civic Touring and a massive gap between the Si and the Type R. Not cool.

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The Shining Si Light Gets a Little Dimmer

So, what does the leaked torque figure mean for horsepower output? Well, unfortunately, it probably doesn’t mean anything good. We were hoping the Civic Si would put out somewhere around 230 to 250 horsepower and around 220 pound-feet. But, my guess now is that it will be somewhere around 210 horsepower and 192 pound-feet – making it a fun grocery-getter, no doubt, but not the performance machine I hoped for.

Obviously, it wasn’t going to be as good as they Type R, but that torque figure seems a little low to me. Of course, there’s always aftermarket upgrades to remedy the problem, but a little more oomph from the factory certainly wouldn’t hurt. But, what do you think? Is that torque figure a bit too low, or do you think it’s fair? Let me know in the comments section below.